My name is Madeline and I am a DIY rookie. By day I’m a journalism student but starting this Fall 2016 I will be spending my nights exploring and re-creating DIY projects. Follow me as I blog about it all.

My hope is that you look around and find the inspiration to copy and create.

Separate the pieces of the CD. The inner circle plastic won’t be used for this project- just the back and the front. Take your template and outline the shape. Then take your craft knife and score the plastic.

If you want to break the plastic easily YOU MUST SCORE AND SCORE AND SCORE (trace that pattern with your knife over and over again). If you don’t you will be in for a rough night.

Once you have 11 pentagons you can start taping the object together. I placed my tape on the outside so it would stop the hot glue from bleeding through the cracks.

Measure, mark and drill holes into the plastic sheets. Attach the handles to the sheets. You may have to adjust the screw length depending on the thickness of the sheet. My handles came with break-away screws.

I’m really excited about this project. You have probably noticed these guys popping up pretty much everywhere. My older sister is using one for my nephew’s first day of school picture (you know the one where mom’s are finding something that the kid wears or holds in every photo, every year, for like ever).

Anyway, here’s what you need:

9″ X 11″ frame- you’ll need a picture frame with a bit of depth to fit all the stuff inside

36″ x 12″ piece of black felt

Quantity 36 -3/16 inch thick SQUARE wood dowels 12″ long.

1″ White plastic letters (I ordered mine on Amazon- here)

Pencil?

Scissors

Ruler

Hot glue gun

Craft knife

Cut the wood dowels- Let the frame backing be your guide for shape and cuts.

Quantity 2: 10-15/16″

Quantity 34: 8-15/16

Check and make sure the dowels are long enough to work in your frame.

Next build a simple rectangle (the two longer dowels as the long side). Lay out the shorter dowels onto the longer dowel frame- try to get them spaced 1/8″ apart. Continue to check spacing throughout all the steps. If the spaces aren’t right the letters will not fit or alternatively, not sit.

Once you have the spacing down, you can start gluing the shorter dowels to the dowel frame. Keep the picture frame backing and your dowel frame separate. Don’t glue together.

Now start tucking the felt between the bars. Begin at one end of the frame. Use a ruler to tuck the fabric into the slats. Hold down the slats as you go so the felt doesn’t pull out as you move.

Test your letters and make sure they hold. If the spacing is good, flip the frame over and trim the access fabric and add hot glue to the dowels and felt.

You’re almost to the finish line- put your felt frame into the picture frame and add the frame backing. Swivel as many of the clips as will fit into place (it’s okay if it’s only the top and bottom swivels). If the two side clips don’t fit you can bend them back and forth until they break off.

Winters coming. But that doesn’t mean the inside of your house has to match the dreary weather. Framing leaves is a quick easy way to add clean, modern art to your space. As an added bonus this project takes a total of five minutes.

For this project I used a fake large monstera leaf. Another option is to steal a leaf from one of your house plants. Here is a link to a site that shows you how to do it with real leaves.

Measure, mark and drill holes into the plastic sheets. Attach the handles to the sheets. You may have to adjust the screw length depending on the thickness of the sheet. My handles came with break-away screws.

Some DIY projects added window moulding to line the outside of the tray. I ordered the WRONG moulding so instead I had to improvise. I took apart an old cheap Walmart plastic poster frame that I had lying around.

I sprayed the frame pieces, cut to size and then used gorilla glue to adhere the plastic frame to the tray.

My friend came to visit and I set mine up in my spare bathroom with sample toiletries for her.